Peter Boer | Bloomberg | Getty Images In the not-too-distant future, the waters 15 miles from Martha’s Vineyard will host a potentially critical part of America’s energy future: the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1, a project described as “its first commercial offshore wind farm” country. . “ Construction of Vineyard Wind 1 began last year and the plant will use 13 MW versions of GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X turbines. With a height of up to 260 meters (853 feet), a rotor diameter of 220 meters and fins of 107 meters, the Haliade-X is part of a new generation of turbines to be installed in the coming years. Apart from GE, other companies are entering the project of the big turbine. In August 2021, the Chinese company MingYang Smart Energy published details of a 264-meter plan that will use 118-meter blades. Elsewhere, the Danish company Vestas is working on a 15-megawatt turbine with a rotor diameter of 236 meters and blades of 115.5 meters, while Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is developing a turbine with 108-meter blades and a rotor diameter of 222 meters. The reasons for these increases in size are clear. In terms of height, the US Department of Energy says turbine towers “become taller to capture more energy, as winds generally increase as altitudes increase.”
Read more about clean energy from CNBC Pro
The larger rotor diameter is not just for display, with the DOE noting that it “allows wind turbines to sweep more area, capture more wind and generate more electricity.” It is about the same as the blades. The DOE says longer fins can “capture more of the available wind than smaller fins – even in areas with relatively less wind.” Getting huge turbines to market is great, but their sheer scale can create a number of medium to long-term challenges for the industry, creating points that could cause headaches.
Okay
Get facilities. In February, research by Rystad Energy improved some of the potential issues with ships used to install offshore wind turbines at sea. Not counting China, he said wind turbines had seen what he called “growth in recent years, rising from an average of 3 megawatts (MW) in 2010 to 6.5 MW today.” This shift, he explained, was likely to be sustained. “Wind turbines over 8 MW accounted for only 3% of global installations between 2010 and 2021, but this figure is projected to increase to 53% by 2030.” The above data concern only offshore wind turbines. According to the energy research and business intelligence company, demand for ships that can install larger offshore turbines is expected to exceed supply by 2024. Operators, he said, “will have to invest in new ships or upgrade existing ones to install the oversized turbines that are expected to become the norm by the end of the decade, otherwise the pace of offshore wind farms could slow down.” “When the wind turbines were smaller, the installation could be handled by the first-generation fleet of offshore wind turbines or convertible jackups from the oil and gas industry,” said Martin Lysne, senior analyst for rigs and ships at Rystad Energy. statement in time. With pilots continuing to favor larger turbines, Lysne said it would need a “new generation of specially built vessels” to meet demand. These specialized boats are not cheap. The American company Dominion Energy, for example, is leading a joint venture to build the 472-foot-long Charybdis, which will cost about $ 500 million and will be able to install current turbines and next-generation turbines of 12 MW or more. More ships like the Charybdis will be needed in the future as turbines develop. “Of the current fleet of ships built for this purpose, only a few units can install 10 MW + turbines and none are currently able to install 14 MW + turbines,” according to Rystad Energy analysis. “This will change in 2025 as new shipyards begin to be delivered and existing ships receive crane upgrades.”
ports
Ships carrying and installing turbines will be important in the coming years, but the ports they dock with are another area where investments and upgrades are likely to be needed to meet wind energy growth. In an email to CNBC, Rystad Energy’s Lysne described the port’s infrastructure as “very important” in terms of the ship. Installation boats moored in Ostend, Belgium. Wind energy industry is calling for significant investment in port infrastructure to help address the rapid expansion of wind farms. Philippe Clément / Arterra | Universal Images Group | Getty Images From now on, it seems that a lot of money will be needed. Last May, a report by the industrial organization WindEurope said European ports would need to invest 6.5 billion euros (about $ 7.07 billion) by 2030 to “support offshore wind expansion”. The exhibition addressed the new reality of larger turbines and the impact it could have on ports and infrastructure. “Upgraded or completely new facilities are needed to accommodate larger turbines and a larger market,” he said. The ports, WindEurope said, should also “expand their land, strengthen their quays, strengthen their deep – water ports and carry out other civil works.” More recently, a report by the World Wind Energy Council also reinforced the importance of ports. “As offshore wind farms are expanding and commercial-scale floating wind farms are proliferating, port upgrades will be crucial to the industry’s future success,” he said. The Brussels-based agency said turbine sizes had “increased dramatically” over the past decade, noting that 15 MW turbines were available on the market. “Experts now predict that 17 MW wind turbines will be common by 2035,” he said, adding that projects focusing on offshore winds were being developed “in huge volumes”. These “floating projects” required “significant storage and assembly on the waterfront, which required more spacious facilities, overland transport links within port areas and deeper water ports.” “Many governments have recognized port upgrades as vital to the advancement of offshore wind energy, from Taiwan to New York State.” As wind turbines grow in size, the boats used to transport their components will also need to be adjusted. Andrew Matthews – Pa Images | Pa Pictures Getty Images Regarding the ports, Rystad Energy’s Lysne told CNBC that the US – whose current offshore wind energy market is small – would “require more work as it does not have the same infrastructure as Europe”. Change on this front seems to be imminent. In early March, BP and Equinor – two of the companies best known as oil and gas producers – signed an agreement to convert the South Brooklyn Naval Terminal into an offshore wind port. In a statement, Equinor said the port would become “a state-of-the-art facility for Equinor and bp’s Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects”. The site, he claimed, would be “a destination for future offshore wind farms in the area”. Investments in infrastructure upgrades are expected to reach $ 200 million to $ 250 million.
The road ahead
All of the above fuel the importance of infrastructure and logistics. Shashi Barla, who is global head of supply chain and wind energy technology at Wood Mackenzie, told CNBC that while the companies had the technology, the logistics challenges proved to be “very difficult”.
“It’s not something new … we’re talking about logistics challenges from day one of the industry,” Barla said. “It’s that … we are somewhat now, today, approaching the turning point.”
Around the world, major economies are announcing plans to increase wind energy capacity in an effort to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
As wind turbine components grow, the logistical challenges facing the industry also seem to increase. This image, from August 2021, shows a 69-meter-long rotor blade being transported to Germany.
Endrik Baublies | Editorial Getty Images
While these goals are ambitious, it is clear that they face many obstacles. Regardless of the turbine size issues, it will take a huge amount of effort to get all of these installations online. There is work to be done.
“Increasingly, the lack of facility infrastructure is being seen as a major constraint on the development of the wind industry,” the GWEC report notes.
“In many countries,” he added, “the lack of infrastructure, such as grid and transmission networks, logistics highways and ports, limits the expansion of wind energy and stifles the very innovation required to transform the energy system.”
Along with these issues, the interaction of wind turbines with wildlife is likely to be another area of great debate and debate in the future.
Just last week, the US Department of Justice announced that a company called ESI Energy Inc. “pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the MBTA” or the Migratory Birds Act.
As the 21st century progresses, wind energy is regulated for a huge expansion, but the road ahead does not look smooth at all. With the UN Secretary-General recently warning that the planet was “falling asleep to climate change”, the stakes could not be much greater.
